You Can't Sit Still

In another of the coincidences that this process has been throwing up, we move from the bayan , or accordion, as featured by Sofia Gubaidulina to the totally different utilisation of the same instrument by Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas on an album called Hang It High, Hang It Low. Zydeco is the dance music of the creole people of Louisiana and it drives forward like a steam train. It reaches way back to before the British displaced the French as the colonial influence in the region. The distinguishing feature of the music is the use of accordion as the main lead instrument and rub board in the rhythym section. Other instrumentation is the same as any blues or r 'n' b band. The influence of blues is obviously there, as is that of the more countryfied cajun music of the French speaking white population. But zydeco remains distinctive as the ultimate good time dance music. Like all black US styles, it has to cope with loss of the older generation of innovators but the musicians in Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas span generations and offer hope for continuity. Whilst not being the most profound music you will ever hear, it sounds totally of the moment and remains relevant.